Beyond the shared hardware, all similarities between the Ford Mustang Cobra and the Subaru WRX STi come to a crashing halt. One's rear-wheel drive, the other's all-wheel drive. One has two doors, the other has four. One is comparatively sedate, while the other screams "look at me, I'm a blinged-out rice rocket." One huffs out 390 hp and 390 lb-ft from a Roots-supercharged DOHC 4.6L V-8, the other wrings 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque out of a turbocharged 2.5L flat-four. One's arguably the best factory hot rod currently built on this continent, the other lays credible claim to being the hottest of the Japanese imports. But the difference between these two cars is really much simpler than that: One's an old-school musclecar, and the other is a high-tech wondercar.

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The idea for a head-to-head comparison between these two wildly different yet similar machines came from the simple observation that previously published road tests of both cars have generated virtually identical dragstrip e.t.'s. Beyond that, the list of similar hardware and comparable sticker prices in the mid-30s make for an invitingly level playing field. Even a call to a contact at Ford's Special Vehicle Team elicited the admission that, "Yeah, we probably do need to start thinking about those as competitors."

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If you're thinking about flipping to the end to see how badly the Cobra spanked the Subaru, we'll save you the time: It didn't. In fact, it came pretty close to being the other way around, and depending on how you weigh the results, one could easily argue the STi is the better all-around car. It's just as quick at the dragstrip, faster around the road course, and costs less. However, the approach to performance that each of these cars represents creates a gulf so wide between them that few enthusiasts are comfortable on both sides of the chasm. Our purpose with this comparison, much more than declaring a clear-cut winner, is to expose the depths of that divide and find some common ground.

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The Case For The STiSince its introduction to U.S. shores for the '02 model year, Subaru's rally-inspired, all-wheel-drive WRX has become the darling of young enthusiasts looking for a reasonably priced high-performance car. For '04, Subaru unleashed a U.S. version of the WRX STi, which is basically a homologated version of the super-hot race cars Subaru campaigns abroad in the World Rally Championship series and here in the U.S. in the SCCA's Pro Rally series, of which the company is a major sponsor. The U.S.-spec version of the STi-which stands for the Subaru Tecnica International, the company's performance division-features a 2.5L turbocharged four-cylinder Boxer engine (opposed cylinder layout, like an aircooled VW) cranking out 300 hp at 6,000 rpm and 300 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm through a six-speed manual transmission. It's mated to an all-wheel-drive system consisting of front and rear limited-slip differentials connected by a viscously coupled center diff that splits torque between the front and rear drive wheels. Based on the econobox Impreza four-door sedan (the WRX is not available as a two-door), the STi looks at a glance like some teenager slathered his mom's car with doohickeys from the accessory aisle at Pep Boys. The hoodscoop and rear wing are literally over the top, and the World Rally Blue Pearl of our test car along with the gold BBS 17-inch alloy wheels present a stark contrast to the relatively low-key Cobra. But under the admittedly gaudy exterior beats the heart and soul of a legitimate world-class performance car.

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With the STi, Subaru lifted a page from the classic American musclecar playbook by taking a mundane, bread-and-butter commuter car out of its lineup, stripping away the frills, and concentrating only on the performance hardware. It's stiffly sprung and somewhat tin-can-like at highway speeds, but the racing-designed articulated seats are quite comfortable (more so than those in the similar boy-racer Dodge SRT-4, in our opinion), and the controls and instruments are laid out in an ergonomically friendly manner that one would expect from a mid-priced Japanese car. In keeping with the high-tech nature of the STi, it incorporates more gadgets on the dashboard than a Transformer toy robot, including a driver-operated intercooler water-sprayer, electronic height adjustment for the HID-low-beam headlights, a programmable shift light, and a driver-controlled center differential lock, which allows the driver to bias the front-to-rear power distribution on the fly or lock the diff at a 50/50 split. We actually had to break out the owner's manual on a couple of occasions to read the instructions! A boost gauge is glaring in its absence.

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The beauty of Subaru's all-wheel drive proved itself both on the dragstrip and the road course, where it makes a hero of even the most inept driver. On the strip, with the center diff locked to split power more or less evenly fore and aft, the all-wheel drive system harnessed every bit of the 300 hp and 300 lb-ft, laying down staggering 1.80-second 60-foot times on the stock Bridgestone Potenzas. After a bit of experimenting with launch rpm, we knocked off a best pass of 13.29 at 100.5 mph (altitude-corrected) after thoroughly icing down the intake manifold and the intercooler and dropping the clutch at a hair-raising 6,000 rpm that produced some scary bangs and barks from the drivetrain but propelled the Subaru forward like a rocket to short times that are unheard of for any rear-driver on street radials.

On an abbreviated version of the tight 1.8-mile, 12-turn Streets of Willow road course, where we turned a best lap time of 81 seconds, the story was much the same, with the all-wheel drive biting into the track without a hint of oversteer no matter how hard the steering wheel or throttle were twisted, and with its well-sprung sport suspension, the STi hugged the curves like the barely disguised race car it is. Production-car-typical understeer was grossly evident, but the massive Brembo brakes hauled the car down fast enough to stay out of trouble.

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Admittedly, the looks of the STi take some getting used to, if it's even possible, but the behind-the-wheel experience of this all-wheel-drive bomber is addicting in short order. It's fun to drive, surprisingly fast, and handles like nothing you've probably ever driven. If you're a middle-aged white guy you'll look absolutely ridiculous driving one, although the STi could very well be the best thing that's happened to the midlife crisis since gold chains and Corvettes.

The Case For The CobraAny hardcore V-8, rear-drive musclecar guy raised on tire smoke and high octane is likely approaching this comparison with one thing in mind: the dragstrip results. With the Cobra, a few things are clear. In stock form, with stock tires, the car is ludicrously traction limited. Drop the hammer at anything above an idle and the Goodyear F1s will spin forever, and even judicious pedaling of the throttle and slipping of the clutch doesn't result in anything approaching satisfying 60-foot times. But the Cobra's trap speeds of close to 110 mph foreshadow its easy 12-second potential with sticky tires and possibly a gear swap. Bolt on a couple grand in speed parts (see sidebar), and a Cobra mill can sow enough oats to dip well into the 11s right up to point where the rearend explodes (we've seen it). Nonetheless, on our test day, we were able to muster only a best of 13.30 at 109 mph (altitude-corrected) with an abysmal 2.25-second 60-foot time that's fairly typical of stock radials.

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On the ride and handling front, the Cobra reveals its roots as a musclecar, with straightline performance clearly placed at a premium above corner-carving. Although 25 years removed and many times enhanced from its genesis under the '78 Ford Fairmont, the aging Fox-based platform displays its split personality as it flips from understeer to throttle-induced oversteer at a blip of the gas pedal. Although it's far quieter and smoother on the highway and around town compared to the snap, crackle, and pop of the Subaru, the Cobra is far more challenging to drive hard around corners than the forgiving all-wheel-drive STi. While the Cobra's rearend steps out willingly with a hint of the throttle, the STi is all-but-impossible to lose control of. We also found the Cobra's heavily bolstered leather-wrapped seats to be uncomfortable compared to other Mustangs we've driven, and the T56's long-throw shifter seems to be designed expressly for missed shifts. If we owned a Cobra, that would be one of the first things to go.

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If dragstrips or stoplights are your preferred venue, the Cobra's beltdriven Eaton supercharger provides an abundance of low-end grunt, and its time-honored Fox chassis responds easily to the bevy of readily available performance parts on the market, but we'd advise you to consider dumping the wheelhop-prone factory IRS in favor of a live axle if you want to maximize the potential of either. (The swap is surprisingly simple.)

Other than the factory installed blower, there's nothing truly shocking or revolutionary about the Cobra, but it is cool to know that a car like this is being built by a Big Three automaker that still believes high-performance is a selling point worth pursuing with the buying public, and it's the sentimental favorite in this comparison because it represents something most gearheads over 30 are familiar and comfortable with. Like the new Ford ads say, "They don't build cars like they used to. We do."

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The Bottom LineAt first glance, the traditional musclecar/hot rod enthusiast will likely be as instantly drawn to the Cobra as he is repulsed by the mere presence of the STi. But a lot can be learned by maintaining an open mind. The Subaru feels light and powerful and handles like a go-kart in comparison with the Cobra, which in contrast, felt heavy and dull despite the whoosh of the blower and the wide powerband it creates. In comparison to the now-dead GM F-body, we used to consider the Mustang to be the far more practical and user-friendly car, but compared with the Subaru, it's the one that feels cramped and dated. As goofy as they look, don't discount the advantage of those two extra doors accessing the WRX's very usable rear seat.

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Ready for a shock? Our testers were split down the middle after logging a long weekend in each of these cars, and even if we had to declare a winner, we'd be hard-pressed to do it. As we said at the start, the Subaru is the Cobra's equal at the drags, its superior on the road course, and the cheaper of the two. And considering its traction disadvantage, in a street race with the STi, the Cobra would probably lose. But the lure of the Cobra's grunting V-8 and classic rear-wheel-drive configuration are hard to shake for those of us raised with the perception that nothing less will do. No two cars put the old-school/new-school debate in sharper focus than the Cobra and STi. So let the arguing begin.

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Who's The Real Gas Guzzler?We were surprised to note that despite similar factory EPA fuel economy ratings (16/22 city/highway for the Cobra versus 18/24 for the WRX STi), the Cobra gets slapped with a $1,000 federal gas-guzzler tax because it's right under the EPA's 22.5-mpg factored average cutoff. What makes that even more surprising is that in our real-world mileage testing, we actually got better gas mileage in the Cobra than we did in the Subaru, logging almost exactly 17 mpg in the Cobra over our test flog compared to 16.5 mpg in the Subaru. That includes close to 40 miles of road-course testing and a few dozen dragstrip passes, plus a couple hundred miles of freeway driving, so your results may vary. We suspect a big reason we got better mileage from the Cobra stems from the fact that it's easier to keep a light right foot with the Cobra's relatively low-rpm torque compared with the temptation to wing the wee out of the STi's small cubes.

Going To The Next LevelAdding to the long list of things the Cobra and STi have in common is an avid following among enthusiasts, which in both cases has created a strong demand for aftermarket performance parts.

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In its few short years in business, Pleasanton, California-based Vishnu Performance Systems (925/924-9800, www.vishnu-performance.com) has established itself as a leading producer of tuning parts for the WRX and Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution, and it didn't take long for the company to tackle the STi. Priced at $2,100, Vishnu's Stage 1 kit for the STi consists of a mandrel-bent-stainless-steel 3-inch turbo-back exhaust system and a XEDE computer that piggybacks onto the stock ECU and allows user-tunability of the spark, fuel, and boost maps. Bumping max boost from 14 psi to 16.5 psi, Vishnu's Stage 1 kit produces about 260 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque on 91-octane pump gas at the wheels and 285 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque on 100-octane race gas, compared with about 215 hp and 220 lb-ft stock, and the XEDE piggyback controller allows the driver to quickly switch between two separate maps for various grades of fuel.

Aftermarket performance parts for late-model Mustangs need no introduction, and it hasn't taken the thriving Mustang market long to unleash big power from the Cobra's blown modular motor. According to Amazon Racing (410/676-3433, www.amazonracing.com), spending about $2,500 for a smaller blower pulley to increase boost, a complete exhaust system with headers and an after-cat, a cold-air inlet system, and reflashing the stock computer will net upwards of 500 rear-wheel horsepower. Then it'll be time for a new rearend!